Chasing Starlight

Chapter 1

The Infamous Plus

Aria Montgomery walked out of Spencer Hastings' bathroom, holding a device that looked like a thermometer. The other three girls stared at her as she approached, a worried look etched on her face, shaking the device vigorously.

"Well?" Emily Fields asked anxiously.

"The box says it takes thirty minutes to come up with a result," Aria said dully, proceeding to place the device on the table. Hanna Marin grabbed her phone, which had been resting on the table, before Aria could do so.

"Eww, Aria! Do you mind not keeping that thing on the table? You just peed on it!"

Spencer handed Aria a wad of tissues and Aria wrapped the pregnancy test in them and placed it on the table. She sat on the bed, twisting her hands in her lap, looking as though she might throw up. Spencer reached out and held her hand.

"Hey, listen to me," she said soothingly. "It must just be a scare. It happens to everybody. This thing right here–" she gestured towards the pregnancy test, "–could prove otherwise! Sometimes, your period could be late because of…stress and other things. We're graduating in two weeks and college is just a couple of months away! It's natural that you'd be nervous. And, you're moving to New York, to a completely new, big city."

"I didn't just miss my period, Spence," Aria said in a low voice. "I've been having nausea and headaches and my boobs are so sore, I can't even fit them into my pink bra. I'm pretty sure that there's something growing inside me as we speak and that little thing on the table will prove just that."

"Remember when I had that pregnancy scare?" Hanna reminded her. "I was so sure I had all those symptoms, too. Turns out I was wrong. The mind's a powerful thing, Aria. When you think you're pregnant and you're so sure that you are, the body starts thinking you are, too, and starts displaying all these weird physical symptoms. I think it has a name – false pregnancy or something."

"I don't think Aria is nearly as neurotic as you are, Hanna," Emily said dryly. Hanna threw a pillow at her.

"Aria, even if you are pregnant, have you thought about telling Ezra?" Emily asked Aria nervously. Aria sighed and flopped down on the bed.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Hanna gaped at her. "How can you not tell him? Oh, wait." She held up a hand. "It is Ezra's, right? Because if it's not, Aria Montgomery, you bad, bad girl–"

"Of course it's Ezra's! But I don't even know if I'm pregnant yet. Oh, dear God!" Aria muffled her face with the pillow. "I'm going crazy! I'm talking if I'm already pregnant. And…if I am…what about…college…and…."

"Aria!" Spencer reached out and shook her firmly. "Stop! Look, you've got to keep a cool head. Hopefully, for your sake, you're not pregnant. But if you are, don't worry about Ezra. He loves you, I'm sure he won't react badly."

"It's not his reaction I'm worried about." Aria pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at her friends. "I'm sure Ezra wouldn't…dump me or tell me to get rid of it. It's just that he's been talking a lot about this new job in Philadelphia that he might be able to land. His job interview went well, the principal of that school seems very impressed with him. This…baby could ruin a lot of things for him."

"Well, you can never be sure until confirmation stares you in the face," Spencer said confidently. "And by the sheer law of probability, there is a chance you couldn't be pregnant."

"Yeah, Aria," Emily said, reaching out to touch Aria's shoulder. "Spencer's right. Let's just wait and see what the test says."

"At least Emily will never have a pregnancy scare," Hanna said, her eyes on her phone as she typed out a text. Emily tossed her a look.

"What makes you think I'll never want a baby?"

"Well, I can hardly imagine that Paige has the right equipment to get you to think you're pregnant–"

"Shh!" Spencer said suddenly. "Aria…I think it's done. There's something on it."

There was a silence as Aria sat up and carefully took the pregnancy test in her hand. Trying to remain calm, she took a deep breath and stared at it.

There was a tiny red plus sign on the screen. For a second, it seemed to blur before Aria's eyes.

I'm pregnant.

With Ezra's baby.

With college just months away.

"Aria?" Hanna asked uncertainly. "Everything…okay?"

Aria placed the pregnancy test on the table with as much calm as she could muster, willing herself not to scream and hurl it against the wall.

"No," she said in a hollow voice. "Nothing's…okay. And it never will be."

At that moment, the girls understood. They moved towards Aria, enveloping her in a hug. Aria said absolutely nothing as all of them talked about how Ezra would "understand" and how everything would "work itself out" and how they were all going to be "there for her through everything".

"Aria, I don't really want to say this," Emily said nervously. "But if you're that upset about this baby, there is another option…"

"If you're saying I should get rid of this baby, I can't do it, Emily," Aria replied. Her hand went instinctively to her stomach and as crushed as she was about the news, the maternal instinct inside her reared its head. "I'm going to keep it. Sleeping with Ezra was something I did because I wanted to, knowing fully what could happen. I just know that this is the responsible thing to do."

Spencer leaned in and gave her a hug. "This is amazingly mature of you, Aria. When are you going to tell Ezra?"

Aria threw her a panicked look, edging away from her. "Wh-what? Tell Ezra? Do I really have tell him?"

Hanna reached out and touched her arm. "Aria, are you okay? You didn't even look that panicked when you found out you're pregnant. Why does the possibility of telling Ezra freak you out so much?"

Aria covered her face in her hands. "I told you. It's his new job. He thinks he might get through. I don't want to mess this up for him, Han. I really don't."

"Aria, you've got to tell him, no matter what!" Spencer insisted. "I'm not going to lie to you; it's definitely going to throw your world as well as his off-track but you can't not tell him. He's the father; he has a right to know."

"Maybe I should just tell him after the baby's born?" Aria said hopefully. "After he's…I don't know, settled with his job so maybe then–"

"What is wrong with you?" Hanna exploded. "Do you seriously think you can have the baby and then give it to him and say, 'Hey, daddy! This is your baby. Have fun!'?"

"If you don't tell him now, he'll never forgive you, Aria," Emily reminded her. "Tell him as soon as possible."

"What are you going to do about college, Aria?" Spencer asked her. "I mean, you are going off to NYC. You can't keep this kid with you in your Columbia dorm room–"

"I'll think about that later, Spence," Aria interrupted. "Right now, the important thing is telling Ezra."

At that moment, her phone beeped. She picked it up and opened the message. It was from Ezra.

'Hey, babe, are we still on for tonight? I love you. – E'

"It's from Ezra," Aria told the other three. "We were planning to meet in Philadelphia for dinner tonight. He'll meet me at the restaurant after he's done with his final interview. I'll tell him then."

"You're going to Philadelphia tonight?" Hanna asked her. "I was planning to go there too. I need to pick up something for Caleb's birthday next week. I'll give you a ride."

"It's a good thing you're staying with Spencer this week," Emily told Aria. "It'll give you some time to clear your head about how you're going to tell your parents."

Aria groaned. "Damn! I don't even know how I'm going to tell them. Do you remember how my dad reacted when I told them Ezra and I were dating? He got him kicked out of his job at Hollis. If he finds out Ezra's gotten me pregnant…that's probably the end of both of us."

"Look, you and Ezra can discuss this tonight," Spencer told her. "I'll make you some green tea. It'll help calm your nerves. Just focus on breaking the news to him."

"Since when did Spencer start drinking green tea?" Aria asked quietly as Spencer left the room. "Last time I checked, she was still downing coffee like water."

"It's not Spencer. Her mum's on this whole healthy diet thing," Emily said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I figured," Aria murmured. She let her hand slide down to her stomach, which was still flat, though she knew it wouldn't remain that way much longer. She let her hand linger there, almost as if she expected to feel a kick. She felt nothing.

"It's going to be okay," she murmured, though she wasn't sure whether she was talking to herself, or whether she was assuring this little baby growing inside her, which could be hardly larger than a fingernail at that moment, that it wouldn't have to worry.

You're going to be fine. I'll take care of you.